Last Post For Now

Our last week in Istanbul was pretty chill. We visited the US Consulate, did some last minute shopping, went to see the really awesome cistern left over from way back when much like everything in Istanbul :D The cistern was really cool though, because it was all dark except for a couple of lights that were red or green. There wasn't too much water, only about a foot, but there were some interesting fish swimming around underneath there. There were also these two huge Medusa heads--one was sideways and the other upside-down. Also, the columns in the place were really interesting--none of them looked similar to the others, but there was one column in particular that drew my attention because the design on it was truly different and it had a hole in it that looked like the wish hole that Gunhan pointed out to us in Aya Sofya. Basically you stick your thumb in there and turn your hand the full 360 degrees while wishing for something. If you can do the full 360, your wish gets accepted. Good deal, since all you have to do is take a step and your hand can do the full rotation, sans problems.

How to sum up my feelings for this place and these people that I came with? They were both wonderful, to be very simply put. The way the students were willing to accept everything as it came to them was pretty awesome, and trust me, Turkiye throws a lot of unexpected things at you, ranging from creepers during the partying after a big win in a soccer match to a small but lovely little mosque just around the corner of a big and awesome church. Neighborhood children pop out every now and then and there also.

I love Turkiye. Istanbul has become, if it already wasn't the center of THE universe, well, at least the center of MY universe.

I want to thank Professor Shields for organizing this program and taking us to Turkiye. I want to thank all the other students for making the experience even more wonderful. And definitely a big thanks to William for making the experience infinitely more delicious by cooking for us once a week.

Thanks go to my grandparents and my uncle and aunt for putting up with me in Istanbul. Thanks go to my aunts and grandmother and grandfather on my mom's side for helping me whenever we came to the city where they were located.

Thanks go definitely and infinitely to my mom and dad, because they can never be repaid, but I'm thinking they did a pretty good investment because now they have a tour guide who can take them around Istanbul, free of charge, and make them see what the tourists can't. Not just Istanbul, of course. Turkiye, in general. So woot :D

Thanks to my readers, for reading. I hope, for those who haven't ever been to Turkiye, that you'll want to go. And I hope you read the blogs of the others as well, because they each give a different perspective on the country.

And thanks to Turkiye, that wonderful country. I'll miss you, and I'll definitely come back to you.